Customer Reviews

Korngold: Die tote Stadt

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All that has remained in the repertoire of this excellent work are the duly famous 4 minutes of `Marietta's Lied`, hailed by some as one of the most beautiful things in all 20th century opera. It certainly packs an emotional punch worthy of Puccini at his peak, and its return at the very end is heart wrenching. I've seen critics regret the fact that the rest of Die Tote Stadt is 'not on the same level', but really, that's a bit like complaining the rest of Turandot is not quite like Nessun dorma... In fact, the opera was a huge success at its premiere and widely admired by contemporary composers, Puccini as well as Alban Berg among them. And rightly so, which can only make us wonder more at its subsequent neglect. Korngold is just one of those composers who never really made it into the limelight, even though he wrote much that is instantly accessible and quite exciting.
Indeed, the whole two hours of this piece are enthralling, mainly on the strength of the expert and colourful writing for the (gargantuan) orchestra. Imagine a kind of Elektra meets Gurrelieder cocktail with an added dash of Zemlinsky, Mahler and, yes, Puccini, and you may get some idea of what to expect. I was also put in mind of that other forgotten great opera, Pfitzner's Palestrina. It doesn't make for relaxed listening: the general tone is a bit too excited and even hysterical for that, as befits an opera exploring the obviously Freudian theme of mourning gone haywire. But it's anything but monotonous. One moment a boating song plunges you straight into the world of Viennese light operetta, the next this gay party is subsumed by the extraordinary and spectacular sounds of an organ and a plethora of bells, and you are in a sound world that is as modern as it is captivating.
The vocal parts are extremely agitated and rather highly strung; I cannot help but feel they occasionally overtax the lead singers. Both Neblett and Kollo produce some very strained, even shrill top notes, and there are many top notes in both parts! On the whole, however, the singing is admirable, and the orchestral playing is of an even higher order. The recording, too, though 30 years old, is quite good: it allows you to hear lots of detail, and has an ample dynamic range. We ought to be rightly grateful for having it, and as long as there is no competition other than Segerstam's live recording on Naxos, this set is very much worth acquiring. Meanwhile, there certainly is room for a high profile modern remake. Wouldn't it be a perfect way for Chailly to start his tenure at the helm of the Leipzig Opera and Gewandhausorchester? If Decca would then be so kind as to hire Renée Fleming as Marietta, something truly wonderful might come out...

I had the great good fortune to see, and more importantly, to hear New York City Opera's production of this nearly forgotten work with the astonishing team of soprano Carol Neblett, tenor John Alexander (for whom, it is said, NYCO mounted the production), and conductor Julius Rudel. It is an experience I have never forgotten.

It was to have been revived the following season with Carol Neblett, who was moving on to other things, to be replaced by the estimable soprano Johanna Meier. Unfortunately, the opera was met with stunning indifference by audiences, and the second season performances were cancelled. Too bad.

This recording preserves the performance of the vastly underrated Neblett, adds the veteran baton of Erich Leinsdorf to the mix, and, because of bizarre German musician's union regulations, replaces the magnificent Paul of American tenor John Alexander with the decidedly inferior work of the German Rene Kollo, a singer who, with perhaps all the best intentions, was simply not up to the job. He has the unfortunate ability to do just the opposite of Alexander in this role. Whereas the vocally secure Alexander tended to take the most difficult passages of this score in stride, Mr. Kollo manages to make them sound even more difficult than they really are, no small feat.

That grumbling aside, this is a wonderful recording of an opera which, truth be told, may not be to everyone's taste, but which assuredly is to mine. The truth of the matter is Korngold had the heart of an operetta composer - lovely melodies crowding upon each other, with the prodigious compositional skills of a Richard Strauss. Not always a comfortable combination. But when it works, as with the famous 1st Act Aria/Duet and the breathtaking Appparition Scene which follows, it REALLY works!

The recorded sound here is just about perfect, showing yet again how good analog recording had become near the end of its' run.

A must have recording.

As another reviewer notes, this 1975 RCA recording, with deluxe cast under Leinsdorf is lush. (The Amazon listing seems to start the cast off alphabetically, so the reader may not guess that it stars Neblett, Kollo, Prey and Luxon.) As such, it draws Die tote Stadt nearer to "big" Strauss operas (Die Frau ohne Schatten, Danae, Helena...) than to early Schoenberg or Zemlinsky. The world premiere recording, it is something of a monument, a reference recording, and deserves 5 stars. However, another recording exists, a live Naxos set from the Swedish Royal opera, less lush but perhaps more dramatic, that those fond of the harmonies and orchestration of the Gurrelieder or Zemlinsky will appreciate. As will those on a tight budget - the Naxos set is almost half the price of the RCA/Leinsdorf box.

The poetry of the libretto, the Italianate vocal writing, the stunning
harmonic vocabulary all make for an opera of almost unendurable
beauty. The commedia dell'arte scene in the second act provides
the only "light" touch, and it is also heavily colored in fin-du-siecle tones. When the music of the first act duet returns to finish the
opera, it is enough to wring tears from a stone. A must have recording, worth serious investigation. I have the Naxos recording
as well: If budget allows, get them both.

I bought this recording in preparation for attending a perfomance of the New York City Opera's wonderful production of Korngold's once wildly popular opera, a work that is now nearly forgotten. After hearing (and then seeing) Die Tote Stadt, I am astonished that this gorgeous, evocative, atmospheric musical theater piece is not performed more frequently in the States.

To compare the composer's style to that of other opera composers is surely to do him an injustice but perhaps it will tempt you to listen to this exquisite piece to say that Korngold's music combines the sweeping romantic lyricism of Puccini with the sophisticated tonalities and lush orchestrations of Richard Strauss.

The outline of the story is simple, or so it seems at first: a man who is obsessed with the memory of his dead wife meets a singer whose resemblence to her drives him to pursue the woman at a terrible cost. By means of flashbacks and dream sequences, the composer draws us into a hallucinatory world where the future becomes the past and appearences are always deceiving. The haunting "Marietta's Lied" weaves a golden thread through this imaginative and beautiful score and the melody's reprise at the end of the opera is emotionally wrenching, one of the most powerful moments in modern opera.

Rene Kollo's voice is unfortunately past its prime here, and this, as well as his rather flat characterization of the lead character slightly mars an otherwise fine recording.

Die Tote Stadt is a story about love and loss, regret, resignation, rejunvenation and hope. Truly, this is a neglected masterpiece!

Being a fan of Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), I've waited for years to experience a performance of his 1920 three-act opera DIE TOTE STADT (German for "The Dead City"). Apart from collecting numerous recordings of the brilliant film scores he composed at the Warner Bros. studio in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s (from CAPTAIN BLOOD to DECEPTION), I've only obtained various recordings of the arias "Glück, das mir verblieb" and "Pierrot's Tanzlied" from DIE TOTE STADT, which are certainly two of the most beautiful compositions to ever come out of Korngold's head. I finally gave in to my spending urges and bought this two-disc set, which was recorded in 1975 and is considered to be the best available recording of this forgotten opera.

Freely adapted from Georges Rodenbach's 1892 novel "Bruges-la-Morte" by Erich and his father Julius (under the pen name "Paul Schott"), the story is simple: Paul (played by tenor René Kollo), mourning over the loss of his beautiful blonde wife Marie in the Belgian city of Bruges, is ecstatic to encounter her exact double one day, the flirtatious opera dancer Marietta (played by soprano Carol Neblett). After he invites Marietta to his home to sing and dance for him, she is surprised to find an elaborate "Temple of Memories" shrine to Marie there, containing a braid of her golden hair and a life-sized portrait of her. After Marietta leaves to attend her rehearsal, Paul, torn by his loyalty to the deceased Marie and his longing for the living Marietta, imagines his brief, doomed romance with Marietta that will bloom and wither in the weeks to come. Most of the opera takes place as a fantasy in Paul's troubled mind, from the ghost of Marie (also played by Neblett) appearing to Paul to encourage him to go out into life to a ghostly church procession approaching Paul's home the morning after Marietta has seduced Paul.

The casting of the two leads is nothing short of perfect, with Kollo displaying the right balance of romantic longing and obsessive, delusional mental instability in his powerful voice and Neblett providing a lovely soprano voice with appropriate touches of playfulness and mischief as Marietta. The Munich Radio Orchestra, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, does complete justice to Korngold's extraordinary orchestrations and lovely melodies composed in the late Romantic style, which are as rich and filling as a slice of chocolate Sachertorte with fresh whipped cream from Korngold's Vienna. Almost everything musical is in here, ranging from a wind machine to a children's choir to a pipe organ to an army of church and clock bells! Incidentally, astute listeners of Korngold's film scores may easily spot brief orchestral passages that were later used in ANTHONY ADVERSE (1936), THE SEA HAWK (1940), KINGS ROW (1942), and DEVOTION (1946).

Although the CD comes with a libretto translated in English, I'd love to experience a live performance of DIE TOTE STADT in person someday. Although not for all tastes, this lushly romantic and heartbreaking opera stands as a milestone in the career of a musical genius. And Korngold was only 23 years old when this magnificent opera premiered simultaneously in Hamburg and Cologne on December 4, 1920! DIE TOTE STADT resonated with 1920s German audiences recovering from the traumatic events of World War I and soon went on to become one of the greatest hits of the decade.

My only complaints for this CD are its long tracks, which make it difficult to locate a certain section of the opera, and its somewhat high price. Despite these minor quibbles, this CD is a must-listen for any fan of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's film scores and/or classical music compositions. The intriguing story, gorgeous and haunting arias, and theme of love and loss are enough to make a statue weep.

For this Korngold fan, DIE TOTE STADT is well worth the price of admission and is something to cherish forever.

I agree wholeheartedly with MartinP's excellent review, with some reservations. Rene Kollo's contribution is seen as defective, as other reviewers have also pointed out. The tenor indeed has a thin voice, shrill and metallic, and wobbly in places. But he is perfectly suited for the role of Paul, a fragile, delusional soul. He is no Walter von Stolzing (which he recorded, regretfully), but here he is well cast, and immensely believable. Luxon (Frank) and Wagemann (Brigitta), and especially Prey (Fritz/Pierrot), are superb, and Neblett is a perfect Marietta/Marie, one of the few roles she has recorded in a complete opera. (Some may recall her Minnie in La Fanciulla del West.) Leinsdorf provides a warm, sensuous, environment. Korngold's music is perhaps too facile, not complicated enough for a 20th Century composer, but you are in for a mesmerizing experience, a few hours to lose yourself in a world of eerie fantasy.

Korngold wrote this in his early 20's and never matched it. It is traditional, experimental, wonderfully colored, theatrically dramatic and sweetly lyric. Puccinian, Straussian, personally idiosyncratic. Listening to it again after several years, it has lost none of the shine, the delight.

More importantly, this recording offers one of the lamentably few recorded performances of Carol Neblett. It remains one of the mysteries of show-biz how this marvelous (and gorgeous) singer never really achieved Grand Star status. Another mystery never to be solved is why Rene Kollo was cast here. Neblett had been appearing in the '70's (at New York City Opera, and elsewhere) with the equally astonishing (and likewise short-shrifted) John Alexander, who'd been singing Paul at least since the mid '60's.(A '67 Munich tape with him may exist, but I've never heard it.) Too bad, but even if one were to hate the music, and find Kollo really a downer, the set is worth having for C.N. alone.

This late romantic opera has its flaws, but it is a poignant story about love, loss, and ultimately, letting go of the past. This performance is solid all around. The music is evocative and at times exquisite.

If you enjoyed the music from THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD or THE SEAHAWK, give this a listen.

Korngold was barely out of his teens when he completed the operatic masterpiece Die Tode Stadt (and he already had two superb operas behind him). Yet it is a fully mature, ingeniously crafted and technically well neigh perfect score - opulent and colorfully late-romantic, superbly scored (often with a frankly eerie touch to it), always harmonically interesting and well-written for the voices, and containing several wonderful numbers and plenty of luxuriously shaded, often magical atmospheres. Listen, for instance, to the rapt and otherworldly beautiful characterizing the Marietta character and the use of light and shade to describe Paul's shifting psychological states. Still, it is generally with the orchestral music and the choral and orchestral numbers, particularly the preludes to the various acts, that Korngold really excels, although the most powerful scene of all must be the scene where Marietta tries to banish the ghost of Marie, with an approaching religious procession appearing slowly from the distance, culminating in the almost dizzying conflict with Paul.

René Kollo's Paul is one of the main attractions; perhaps a little to heroic for the role, but the authoritative, characterful and brilliant yet sensitive singing still makes for a superb listening experience. Benjamin Luxon's Frank is in a fine voice with surprisingly spare use of vibrato. Hermann Prey sings wonderfully, of course, but he is a tad too impassionate for his character, and comes across as solemn rather than yearning. Carol Neblett's Marietta is as sparkly and spirited as one could hope for, and her duets with Kollo must count among the highlights of operatic singing on disc. Rose Wagemann provides Brigitta with a warm and loverly mezzo.

Leinsdorf conducts a full-blooded performance; the sound of the Munich Radio Orchestra is full and warm and full of character and atmosphere. The subtle shifts and moves between light and dark are marvelously handled, as is - in particular - the feverish, dreamlike sequences where Paul's ability to distinguish dreams and images from reality becomes tenuous; the music is truly given all the golden hue and smoldering fire it asks for. And the sound quality is magnificent throughout. I haven't heard any alternative recordings of this splendid work, but cannot imagine that they will surpass this one; very strongly recommended.